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Love Island Winners Make History – Why It Matters

Teguan Harris
person forming a heart with their hands around a setting sun, backed by amber sky.

Teguan Harris

Love Island couple Michelle “Mimii” Ngulube and Joshua Oyinsan were crowned the winners on 29th July 2024.

Mental health nurse Mimii Ngulube and footballer Joshua Oyinsan are the UK’s new Love Island champions. Their win is special, as they made history as the first black couple to be crowned the winners of the popular ITV show. They beat fan favourites Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, who were coupled up the longest in the villa.

Ngulube was first coupled up with Munveer Jabbal, following a first impressions challenge. However, she was more interested in Ayomi “Ayo” Odukoya. Despite a difficult love triangle with bombshell Uma Jammeh, they were coupled up for weeks until Casa Amor. Odukoya recoupled with Jessica Leigh-Anne Spencer, and Ngulube returned single.

Before Casa Amor, fans loved Ngulube for her composure, kindness and maturity. Ngulube’s graceful reaction to being left single made fans fall in love with her even more. Fans rooted for Ngulube to find love and called for a bombshell to turn Ngulube’s head, even before Casa Amor. It was when Oyinsan entered the villa with Reuben Collins that turned her luck around.

Ngulube and Oyinsan had an instant attraction. Oyinsan continuously grafted Ngulube, and it was not long until the pair were exclusive. However, their journey was not smooth sailing. Oyinsan showed some attraction to Grace Jackson and Ngulube had conflicting feelings for Odukoya. Joey Essex and Sean Stone’s ongoing antagonization and commentary were also challenging to navigate. Nevertheless, their genuine connection and heartfelt journey earned them 41% of the public vote. Stone and Matilda Draper finished third, and Odukoya and Spencer finished fourth.

Love Island Struggled With Representation

Over the years, Love Island has had POC and black contestants. However, it was never enough for POC and black viewers to feel represented. Season 10 of Love Island had a lot of representation, with contestants like Catherine Agbaje, Whitney Adebayo and Ruchee Gurung in the villa. Despite that, fan favourite Adebayo and her now boyfriend Lochan Nowacki lost to Jess Harding and Sammy Root. Even though fans loved Harding, Root was not a favourite among fans.

Season 11 fell short on diversity and representation. In fact, many fans thought that Season 11 was the least diverse season. Only two black contestants (Ngulube and Odukoya) and one Asian contestant (Jabbal) were in the original lineup. The season had black and POC bombshells, but some were dumped after spending little time in the villa. Omar Nyame did not have a fair chance of finding love after being coupled up with Jammeh. Jabbal was also dumped too soon.

It is also fair to say that white contestants were favoured. This is also evident on social media, where white contestants would receive more followers than Black and POC contestants. There are some exceptions to this statement. Season 5 winner Amber Rose Gill is the first POC woman to win the show. Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan are also the first POC couple to win the show, as they took the Love Island crown in season 9. However, Fagan and Harrinanan do not receive the same opportunities as other white winners and contestants.

 Love Island Fails To Address Racism

Unfortunately, Love Island does little to address the racism their Black and POC contestants receive. When contestants make mistakes and questionable choices, white contestants receive more grace. Clearly, “Be Kind” leaves out Black and POC contestants.

Love Island season 10 contestant Agbaje received hateful comments, racist abuse and death threats when she recoupled with Casa Amor bombshell Elom Ahlijah. She left fan favourite Scott van-der-Sluis single, though they were a favourite to win. Season 7 third runner-up Kaz Kawmi also received racist abuse when she pursued Tyler Cruickshank whilst coupled up with Casa Amor bombshell Matthew MacNabb. More season 7 stars such as Aaron Francis and Dr Priya Gopaldas also received racist abuse. Season 9 third runner-up Tanya Manhenga was another subject of racism.

When Ngulube and Oyinsan won, a lot of Black fans were surprised. For years, fans have been used to white couples winning, despite some contestants’ bad behaviour. Ngulube was a favourite since the beginning. However, she received more criticism over the terrace situation than other white contestants who behaved worse.

Why This Historic Win Matters

Seeing Black people on TV lets Black viewers know there is space for them. However, seeing Black people win a show that white people dominate sends a loud message that Black people can take up as much space as they want. Black people are just as deserving of opportunities as their white counterparts.

Many Black fans celebrated this win on social media including past Black contestants of the show. Season 10 second runners-up Tyrique Hyde and Ella Thomas were elated over Ngulube and Oyinsan’s win. Hyde stated that it is “black people’s time”. Thomas was “buzzing” as “that’s never happened before” and their win was “breaking barriers”. Season 8 second runners-up Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope also stated black people are allowed to be in any space they want.

What makes Ngulube and Oyinsan’s win special is that they won just a week after another black couple, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, won Love Island: USA season 6. Page and Beckham had a journey that was different to Ngulube and Oysinsan, and fans adored them. However, Page still faced microaggression and racism from fans. Despite this, Page and Beckham went on to win the show, beating Miguel Harichi and fan favourite Leah Kateb.

Love Island Made History

Overcoming adversity that white viewers have placed is an achievement in itself. However, that does not mean that Love Island should take a step back in addressing the racism that black and POC contestants receive. It took 11 seasons to crown a black couple. There is still racism to address.

Ngulube and Oyinsan’s history-making win inspired black people to take up space. This shows that representation is important. Black viewers are also just as deserving of opportunities as their white counterparts.

All episodes can be streamed on ITVX.

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Featured image courtesy of Mayur Gala on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

Writer and journalist. University graduate in English Literature. Book reader, word lover and Notion enthusiast.

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